Debut side fall short after fine retort

HOCKEY:Monkstown almost caused the first shock of the All-Ireland Club Championship play-offs at Serpentine Avenue yesterday but were ultimately held off by Belfast's Annadale, who won their opening match 5-4.

Annadale were 3-1 up at half-time and looked like they were cruising to a win. That superiority was further emphasised when they hit two more goals in the second half to take what looked like an unassailable 5-1 lead, with Fraser Mills looking for his hat-trick.

On the hour Monkstown came to life through Gareth Watkins, Alan Lewis and Richie O'Malley who added to Ian Horsefield's goal in the first half. That scoring spree hauled the Dublin side back into the match. Monkstown, making their first appearance in these league finals, pressed hard in the closing minutes but were unable to bridge the gap as Annadale held out.

Glenanne also went down in their first match. The Irish Senior Cup winners lost 4-3 to Banbridge.

The sides were 2-2 at half-time, Simon McGowan and Geoff McCabe netting for the Ulster side and Stephen Butler and Richie Shaw scoring from penalty corners for Glenanne. McGowan scored again for Banbridge on 56 minutes with Ross McCandless adding the fourth goal for 4-2. While Butler hit back from a penalty, that was all Glenanne could muster on the day.

Cork Harlequins opened their account with a 3-0 win over Cookstown in the third match. Lee Dalton opened the scoring on five minutes before David Egner and David Eakins added two more goals in the second half.

In the final match yesterday, home side Pembroke Wanderers drew with Cork C of I in another high-scoring match with the match finishing 4-4.

All-Ireland Club Championship - play-offs: Annadale 5 (F Mills 2, I Hamilton, C Jackson, P Caruth) Monkstown 4 (I Horsefield, G Watkins, A Lewis, R O'Malley); Banbridge 4 (S McGowan 2, G McCabe, R McCandless) Glenanne 3 (S Butler 2 (one penalty), R Shaw); Cork Harlequins 3 (L Dalton, D Egner, D Eakins) Cookstown 0; Pembroke Wanderers 4 Cork Harlequins 4.

Church of Ireland, runners-up in the Munster first division this season, produced the result of the day at the All-Ireland Women's Club Championship yesterday, drawing 1-1 with tournament favourites Pegasus - only the second time the Irish Cup winners have failed to win a game all season, writes Mary Hannigan.

Suzanne Beaney gave the Ulster champions the lead on 35 minutes but Lisa Ryan levelled for C of I in the second half.

In the pool's other game goals after the break from Aoife Harte and Mary Logue sent defending champions Hermes on their way to a 2-1 win over Ballymoney, Bridget McKeever scored a late goal for the Ulster side.

In Pool B, Loreto and Cork Harlequins both got off to winning starts, a Cathy McKean goal 10 minutes from time giving Loreto a 1-0 win over Alexandra, and scores from Karen Bateman (penalty stroke) and Julia O'Halloran securing a 2-0 win for Harlequins over Randalstown.

All-Ireland Club Championship: play-offs (at Belfield) - Pool A: Hermes 2 (A Harte, M Logue) Ballymoney 1 (B McKeever); Church of Ireland 1 (L Ryan) Pegasus 1 (S Beaney). Pool B: Loreto 1 (C McKean) Old Alexandra 0; Cork Harlequins 2 (K Bateman pen, J O'Halloran) Randalstown 0.